The wishing notebook (1st draft)

Chapter 1

It took all the strength I had to stifle a groan that was emerging from my throat as I stared at the whiteboard, which was overflowing with a huge list of tasks that we had to submit by the end of the week. Squinting at my teacher's cursive handwriting, I tried to decipher the words in my brain as I copied the homework onto my planner.

"What does that mean?" My friend Amber pointed at a word that was hastily written on the whiteboard, which resembled a child's scribble on a piece of paper.

"Oh," My teacher, Ms Lim, gasped. "Jeez, that's supposed to be quiz. I'm so sorry. I'll write it again to make it more legible."

Ms Lim's second attempt was no better than her first attempt. The letters were entwined together in a spider web, enshrouding the word in a complete mystery. Before Ms Lim could add more tasks onto the lengthy list, the sound of the bell rang. My classmates leapt from their chairs, grabbed their bags and ran out of the classroom like a flock of birds being released from the birdcage. I gawked at the list of homework on my planner and finally allowed the groan to escape from my throat.

"Not again!" I grumbled. "Who does she think she is, trying to give us so much homework? I mean, she's treating us like robots!"

"Well," my friend Amber sighed. "She's our teacher, so she can give us as much homework as she wants. We can only try our best to finish it."

"Still, she's being unreasonable! I mean, how is it possible for us to finish 40 questions for Math by the end of this week? We have two days left, and we still have to study for the upcoming Math quiz tomorrow. And we have homework from other teachers too! I really want to get on with that History essay from Mr Lee. It's way more interesting than having to solve formulas in Math!"

"I know," Amber said. "But we have to prioritise. It wouldn't make sense for us to finish the History essay when its deadline is later than the deadline for our Math homework." Seeing my gloomy expression, she patted my shoulder. "Well, we can go to the nearest café to get our lunch, do our homework there and study for the quiz, and I can help you if you're stuck. It's air conditioned and relatively quiet since it's a weekday."

The thought of biting into the chicken burger at the café and slurping down the refreshing ice lemon tea was appealing. The weather was abnormally hot today and I could feel my head throbbing relentlessly. It wouldn't be any different if I were to study at home, considering how my mum insisted on not using the air conditioner to save on electricity bills. Furthermore, I could avoid hearing my mom nag that I had to study hard like my older brother Joseph who was always compared against me. It also helped that Amber was consistent in topping the class for Math, so having her around meant that I could complete my homework more efficiently.

"Sure." I agreed. "Let's just get out of here!"

Amber chuckled before stuffing her books and pencil case into her bag. Ensuring that we left nothing behind, we left the classroom and ran down the long flight of stairs towards the school gates. Upon spotting the bus, we sprinted towards it before it drove away, sighing in relief as we made it to the entrance.

The passengers in the bus were packed like animals in a cattle, obstructing any possibility of us finding empty seats to rest our aching legs. I glanced at the scenery as the bus slowly drove away. The students resembled tortoises as they walked across the pavement, shielding their eyes from the blinding lights as they hurried to the nearest shelters to seek refuge from the merciless sun.

As the bus drove on, I saw a bubble tea stall which was crowded with people as they swarmed about like flies attracted to a glowing flame, desperate to quench their thirst with bubble tea. Near the stall was a playground, where a group of children were laughing in glee as they slid down the slide at a rapid speed. Unlike us, their faces were not burdened with the fear of punishments from teachers.